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Amaia García left Madrid for an Asturian hamlet of six: “This was always my dream”

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Amaia García moved from Madrid to a hamlet in Asturias with her husband at age 50 and now lives among no more than six people.
  • She teaches Pilates online, which allows her to maintain contact with students and travel to Madrid when family needs her.
  • Rural life has brought challenges including a lack of nearby services, reliance on a car and firewood, loneliness, and distance from relatives.

Amaia García spent much of her life wanting to live in the countryside. At 50, she and her husband left Madrid for a small hamlet in Asturias where, she says, no more than six people live.

This was always my dream. The hardest thing is being far from the family.

· Amaia GarcíaGarcía described the fulfillment of her rural ambitions and the main difficulty of the move.

Now 54, García teaches Pilates online to students who have followed her for nearly 30 years. The pandemic helped make the move possible by changing the role of in-person work. She had felt trapped in a busy urban rhythm that did not suit her when she found a house for sale through a friend’s social media post.

Her family had deep roots in the region, and she had spent every summer there. Her husband also loved rural life, so the house seemed to offer exactly what they wanted. “This was always my dream,” García says. The first year brought a sense of joy, but the practical difficulties soon became clear.

We are at most six people.

· Amaia GarcíaShe described the size of the Asturian hamlet where she lives.

The nearest town with a doctor, secondary school, and basic services is 17 kilometers away and has 10,000 residents. García needs a car for almost everything, while the house has no heating and relies on a fireplace and firewood. The greatest difficulty, however, is the 500-kilometer distance from her family. She travels to Madrid every month and says online work allows her to stay longer when her parents need her.

Sometimes I feel extreme loneliness because that is the reality. There are weeks when I do not see anyone because my husband travels for work.

· Amaia GarcíaShe explained the emotional challenge of living in a very small rural community.

The quiet can also become extreme. García says there are weeks when she sees nobody because her husband travels for work. Daily contact with her Pilates students from Monday through Thursday, along with social media, helps meet her need for company. A stray puppy that followed the couple home from the countryside has also become a constant companion. Although they live 35 kilometers from Oviedo, García says she has never felt the need to return to the city because of anxiety or loneliness. She stresses that moving to the countryside is a radical change, not a passing trend.

One day we went into the countryside and found a puppy. It followed us home and has not left since.

· Amaia GarcíaShe recounted how the couple’s dog became part of their life in Asturias.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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